Running Into You Literally
by Amity Bell
Summary: When you meet a klutzoid, don't follow him home. You might get more than you asked for. Rowen meets Sage because of his klutzy ways, and they become close friends after a few trials.
1. Meetings

Author's note: All right. Here goes. This is my first fan fiction. I've decided that I'm going to set it in an AU, or Alternate Universe. This will be my take on how Rowen and Sage met. I'm not all that familiar with how they act on the shows, so I'm going to make things up whenever I don't know something. Yes, I did research hypoglycemia before writing this. If I get something wrong, hey cut me some slack. I'm only fourteen. I've decided to use their English names instead of the Japanese names, because I've never seen YST. I'm still using the Japanese school system, though. It's much easier since the kids stay in the same place all day long. Well, except for gym. It's still my favorite show, though! I would greatly appreciate it if you would leave a review for me, including anything that you notice about grammar. I will accept all reviews, even ones that aren't signed. So, I hope you enjoy this tale. Plow on. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter One: What to Do With a Blue-Haired Klutzoid  
  
Rowen looked down at his watch in desperation. He groaned when he realized that he was going to be late to class, and it was only the first day of school. He whipped around the corner and careened down the corridor at full speed.  
He checked his watch again, but when he looked up, he saw a blonde head walking down the hallway ahead of him. Ro realized, with great dismay I might add, that he didn't have time to slow down. He ran full speed into the poor guy, tripping the both of them and sending their books flying in all directions.  
He got up as quickly as he could, then offered a hand to the boy on the ground behind him. He had somehow managed to land in front of the fair haired teenager. The boy looked up, to reveal the oddest colored of eyes Rowen had ever seen. They were a pale lavender, and they just glowed with anger. His right eye was covered by a wave of golden hair that fell across it. From what Rowen could see, that was probably deliberate. The other eye was so cutting that he couldn't imagine what it would be like to have to look into both at once.  
When the boy took hold of his hand, albeit it reluctantly, Ro hauled him to his feet. He looked around and figured out which were his books, then started pick them all up.  
"I'm really, really sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going, and now we're both going to be late." He looked down at his watch just as the bell rang. He groaned in unison with the other boy. "Great. Well, I have to rush." He picked up the last of his books and rushed off, now power walking, down towards homeroom Z.  
After he got around 7 doors down he realized that the blondie was following him. He sped up a little, thinking that the guy meant to catch up and beat him up. When he reached the classroom he wanted he knocked on the door and opened it quickly. He rushed in and handed the teacher his paperwork. She glared at him over her glasses and pointed him to the back of the class, where only two seats were left. He took the one by the window. Moments later the blonde came in. He bowed to the teacher and handed her his paperwork to her as well. Her hawk like eyes glared at him with a little less irritation, and she made a waving motion with her hand towards the seat next to Rowen.  
She stood up and clasped her hands behind her back before speaking.  
"I am Mrs. Gibson. I will be your English teacher for the rest of the year. I expect you to be on time," her grey eyes darted to the blue and blonde haired boys in the back of the classroom, "every day. Today I will tolerate you tardiness, but do not expect me to be so lenient the next time. The next time you are late I will force you to hold two buckets full of water outside of the classroom door for thirty minutes. After that you will be expected to make up ALL of the work that you missed. We will start by learning how to introduce ourselves. Turn your desks so that they face the person next to you, with the window seats pointed inward. Now, I'm going to tell you what to say, and you will repeat after me. I don't care how well you do as long as you try, since this is your first year. 'My name is', and now say your full name. 'What is your name?' Very good. Now I want you all to practice."  
She went behind her desk and sat down to watch their progress. Rowen looked over at the young man he had run into warily.  
"Well, do you want to go first, or should I?" Ro asked.  
"You," the blonde said pointedly.  
"All right then. My name is Rowen Hashiba. What is your name?" he said in perfect English. The lavender eye just stared at him.  
"Well?" he asked, becoming nervous. "Aren't you going to say it?"  
The blonde across from him blinked, seeming to come back to earth. "My.... name...is Sage Date," he said haltingly. "What is.... your.....name? How did you say it so easily?"  
Ro looked at the boy, Sage, uncomfortably. "I was born there. I'm bilingual. Uhh, sorry about earlier. I was trying to get here on time."  
Sage nodded his head. "That's all right." The teacher chose that moment to stand up.  
"Now, if you will all put your desks back in order." She waited a moment as they complied. "Good. Now, all of you will stand up one by one and introduce yourself to the rest of us........" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
The rest of the day was a blur to Rowen. English turned out to be the only class that they had any work in, so he got to read for most of the day. Mrs. Gibson was the meanest teacher he had, and, luckily, he didn't have any klutz attacks.  
He was absorbed in his latest book on astronomy, "Which Star is That?", when he was pulled out of la-la-land by a hand shaking his shoulder. He looked up to see Sage looking down at him. He blinked in surprise when he saw everyone in the class packing up.  
"The bell rang. Sorry to interrupt." The blonde turned around to pack up the last of his paper, then got up to go. Rowen watched, then slowly got his stuff together. He was still thinking of everything he had just read. He didn't notice it when he dropped his bag on the floor, scattering all of his pencils, books, and paper everywhere.  
He sighed as he knelt down. He was a walking disaster area. He had gathered up about half of his books when a pale hand reached down and picked up everything else. Ro looked up to find a lavender eye filled with laughter. He frowned.  
"It's not funny, you know." Sage just put the books he was holding on Rowen's desk before turning away, chuckling. Rowen shoved everything into his bag before filing out the door with the last of the stragglers. He just hoped that nothing would happen to him on the way home, since today seemed to be one of his klutzier days.......  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sage: Well, that's it. -looks at Rowen- Klutzoid.  
  
Rowen: Oh, shut up. -throws his book at him-  
  
Sage: Missed!  
  
MK: Oh, cut it out, you two, or else I'll have you both run over by a car!  
  
Both: Gulp.  
  
MK: Well, I'm sorry it's short. I hope you enjoyed it. Stick around. I'll put out more as soon as I can, but I only have 9 days until my promotion standard testing, and I must PASS with ALL POST HIGH SCHOOLS!!!! I just won't be satisfied with anything else. ^_^ Toodles! 


	2. Tricks

Author's Note: Okay, since I totally forgot about it the last time (I think, it could have been a different story), I am going to start by putting up a disclaimer. IN NO WAY DO THE RONIN WARRIORS OR ANYTHING RELATED TO THEM OR THE SHOW BELONG TO ME! I got all PHS's, by the way. All right. Since I posted the first chapter of this I have written a Dragonlance fic and a Stargate SG-1 fic. They're humorous, so if you need to cheer up, be my guest to run along and read them! Enjoy this chapter. Also, since this is AU, I'm making up anything that I need to make this idea possible. Don't depend on this fic as a good source of information regarding either of the two boys. This is now co-authored with Ceo Shinji. The c sounds like a k, like in Celeborn, for the LotR fans out there. SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG!!! I have massive writers block, which is why I called in Ceo Shinji. Go check out her stories please.  
  
Chapter 2: Tricks  
  
Rowen saw Sage when he left the doors to the building and decided to catch up to him. He started running down the stairs at the front of the building. Very bad idea, that. He tripped and went rolling down to the bottom. He sat up once he had stopped. "Itai....."  
  
Sage continued walking until he heard the sound of someone falling down stairs. Deciding to look back, he saw the blue haired boy that he had come to know in his English class that day sitting on the ground rubbing his head like he was hurt.  
  
Rowen sighed and stood up, then dusted himself off. He realized that his bag had opened again and that he needed to pick up his stuff. He knelt down to once again gather papers, sure he couldn't catch Sage now.  
  
Sage saw him leaning over to pick up his papers for the third time that day and took pity on him. He walked over to Rowen and bent over to pick up a piece of paper, then realized he had caught Rowen's attention.  
  
Rowen glanced up when he saw the pale hand come into his view. He was mildly surprised to find Sage helping him out. "Thanks. You just saved me the trouble of catching up to you. This must be annoying by now. Gomen ne." He stuffed the last paper into his bag again.  
"You're welcome." 'Why do I keep helping him?' "You're really klutzy, you know that?" Sage said with laughter in his voice.  
  
Rowen smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, I've heard. Ano, Sage, I was wondering if you wanted to come over to my house. I could help you out with that English, and I have nothing better to do." He shifted his bag so that it was more comfortable.  
  
Sage looked at Rowen suspiciously before sighing. "Sure. I could really use the help," Sage finally said, still a little suspicious of Rowen.  
  
Rowen shifted. "Don't give me that look. I get bored easily. Plus, I'm having a very klutzy day. I might injure myself so badly that I can't reach the phone and then I'll end up bleeding to death in my own apartment." Then Sage's words sank in. "Oh, okay then. I live in the apartments a few blocks east of here." He waited for Sage to join him at the curb so that they could cross.  
Sage was at first hesitant to follow the klutzy blue headed boy, but he did need help in his English, and the boy was klutzy enough that day that he could get himself killed. He became less hesitant and joined Rowen on the curb to follow him to his apartment.  
  
Rowen was extra careful crossing the street. Once they were across he looked back at Sage. "So, where do you live? I haven't seen you before, and I'd probably remember your hair." He smirked.  
  
"Oh...I live in a Dojo." Sage replied to the question, grateful that they crossed the street safely. He continued to follow Rowen.  
  
"A dojo? You mean the Date Dojo?" He looked thoughtful for a moment. "I didn't know they had a son about my age. Oh well." He shrugged. "My place is just around the corner there. I'll have to check on my dad in his lab first. He probably forgot to eat today. Our apartment is room 213. Inside, up to the second floor, seventh on the left." He went towards a basement once they reached the building.  
"Um...Ok," Sage said, going towards the stairs. He climbed them to the second floor and searched for the apartment number, hoping that he didn't get lost in the apartment complex.  
  
Rowen sighed and knocked on the door to the lab. He heard a mumbled answer and walked in. "Konnichiwa, Tou-san. Have you eaten today?" The blue head on the opposite side of the room looked up. "No, not yet. I'm about to make a break through on this! If I can get this last equation, it'll be perfect." Rowen nodded. "I'll bring some dinner down for you." He turned and went to 213.  
  
Sage luckily found the room number and was leaning against the brick wall by the door waiting for Rowen to return to go into the apartment. He was looking at the scenery around him when he heard the sound of footsteps coming towards the door. He turned to face his companion.  
  
Rowen dropped his bag by the door and took out his keys. He unlocked the door and stepped through. He pointed to a bookcase. "You'll find several English dictionaries over there. Could you grab two? Just leave your stuff by the door. I have to go take some food to my dad." He walked into the kitchen and turned on the lights. He heated some leftovers from the night before and headed back to the lab. "I'll be right back. Make yourself at home."  
"Hn..." was all Sage said as he put his bags on the floor and took his shoes off. He put them beside the doorframe before entering the apartment to look at the bookcase. 'There are a lot of books in here. I wonder what they're all for,' Sage thought, looking over each book. His eyes landed on a Webster English Dictionary and one other dictionary he couldn't make out the name of.  
  
Rowen dropped off his father's food and headed back up the stairs. He hadn't really thought about it at the time, but they had a lot of American books. He sighed and shrugged. Oh well. He came to the apartment and entered, removing his shoes and heading to the bookcase, where he saw Sage looking at the books.  
  
Sage continued to look at all the books with curiosity. He was wondering what all the books were for when he felt that he was being watched. He turned to see Rowen standing by the bookcase next to him. "Um...Nice collection of books," he pointed out, feeling stupid for being so nervous.  
  
"I forgot that we had so many in English. Gomen nasai." He grabbed two off of the shelf and carefully walked around the rug in the middle of the floor. "You can have the Webster's." He sat down. "What do you need the most help with?"  
  
"Um...pronouncing and speaking the words," Sage said, sitting directly across from Rowen.  
  
"Oh...um...Thanks for the dictionary." Sage gave a slight seated bow to Rowen.  
  
Rowen sighed and nodded back. "Do you know your alphabet?" he asked.  
"A little, not a whole lot, though," Sage said as he moved one hand through his blonde hair with a sigh. He looked back at Rowen with an undistinguishable look in his eyes.  
  
"All right. Reel off what you know so far. I'll teach you the alphabet and what else I can tonight. That teacher was brutal." Rowen grimaced slightly.  
"A..B..C...D...E...F...um...guh?" Sage tried.  
  
"Ok," Rowen said patiently. "You got a b c d e and f right. The next one is g." He waited for Sage to repeat it.  
  
"G...G," Sage repeated twice, making sure he understood how to pronounce the letter correctly.  
  
Rowen nodded. "Run back through what you know so far and see if you can remember the next one."  
  
Sage nodded as he started to rattle off what he knew so far. "A, B, C, D, E, F, guh...no, G, um...h...H, er...I, jah." Sage sighed at the second attempt. Not as embarrassing as the first, but still enough for him to feel slightly disappointed.  
  
"J," Rowen corrected. "You could be worse. My dad married an American woman and still doesn't speak English. J."  
  
Sage chuckled when he heard that piece of information. "J...and then comes K, right?" Sage asked, a little more confident in himself.  
  
"Yup. Excellent. After that?"  
"Lmno, P." Sage said kind of quickly.  
  
"You need help?" Rowen asked. "Congrats on the l. That's a tough one."  
  
"Thank you! Not really, just wanted to hang out with you," Sage admitted, looking away from Rowen, unable to face his blue haired friend after the trick he pulled.  
  
Rowen stared for a moment dumbfounded. Then he wiggled his fingers in his ears to make sure they weren't stopped up. "Sorry. I think I misheard you. Everyone's scared I'm going to accidentally break their necks, and you wanted to hang out with me?" He laughed. "That's new."  
  
Sage laughed with Rowen, "I think you are more than capable of breaking your own neck because of how clumsy you more than breaking someone else's neck because of it," Sage said calmly, holding back his laughter.  
  
"Ah, but what would happen if I climbed a tree, and you walked under it and I leaned over to say hi and accidentally fell on you? Then I might break your neck."  
  
Sage chuckled, "I highly doubt you would break my neck. Maybe give me a few bumps and bruises, but not anything quite that drastic."  
  
Rowen shrugged. "Then I'll try again. Say that I was practicing my archery, and I accidentally shot my arrow in the wrong direction? What would happen if it hit your neck and cracked it because of the force of the blow?"  
  
Sage looked at Rowen with slightly fierce lavender eyes, "Then I would have to haunt you for the rest of your nature life."  
  
Rowen laughed and waved a hand. "Sorry, I don't believe in ghosts. That would be a waste of time on your part. I mean, you could spend your time practicing kendo in the afterlife."  
  
Sage laughed. "Kendo would be fun but trying to scare the living daylights out of someone would be pretty fun also." Sage laughed at the thought of people in the afterlife playing practical jokes on everyone.  
  
Rowen got the same picture. "I can just see you dumping green goop on my head. Like from that Ghostbusters movie."  
  
Sage laughed, "That would be interesting. Need to try that someday, or pouring a sticky liquid of some sort like melted candy on someone."  
  
Rowen covered his face with his hand. "What have I done? I've unleashed a monster." Suddenly he straightened and stuck a finger in the air. "My Tou-san would be proud!" He burst out laughing.  
  
Sage looked confused for a moment before he started laughing with Rowen at the thought he had unleashed a monster.  
  
Rowen realized that Sage didn't get his joke. "Remember how I said that I had to check on my Tou-san in the lab? He's a scientist. Thus, he would be proud. A Frankenstein thing."  
  
"Oh..." Sage started snickering. "Wish we could do something like that to that dumb old English teacher," Sage said, leaning back on his hands and looking at Rowen.  
  
Rowen slowly smiled and pulled out his keys. "Guess what I have? Being the smartest kid in school has a special privilege." He held up the key to their classroom and the school.  
  
"Oh...hm..." Sage leaned over to see the keys, then a mischievous smile came across his face. "We would get into a lot of trouble if we were caught, but it would also be the talk of the school if done right."  
  
Rowen looked innocent. "Who would suspect the new polite boy and the school genius? I mean really, that would ruin their whole image!" He grinned. "So, when are we going to do it, and what's the trick going to be?"  
  
Sage leaned back on his hands once more, looking at the ceiling and trying to think of an idea. "We're going to do it, all right, but let's see... What should we do to her?" Sage continued to think.  
  
"Hmmm. Well, my dad has a lab. I can make goo that's the same color as the ceiling, and will fall at a certain time, depending on when we apply it to the ceiling. My question is, how could we get it up there?"  
  
"Hm...Good question. A ladder would be the obvious choice."  
  
"Add in a paint roller and we're set. I should have the goo ready by tomorrow. We should put it on the ceiling at around midnight if we want it to fall during English." Rowen rubbed his hands together. "I think this is the beginning of a mischievous friendship."  
  
Sage chuckled. "Mischievous friendships are the best ones, especially when you both have a teacher you don't like."  
  
Rowen laughed and then stood up. "Are you hungry? We've got plenty of food and plenty of English homework."  
  
Sage groaned at the thought of English homework. 'Mrs. Gibson, beware, the evil bunnies of doom are out to get you.' "Yeah, I am kind of hungry, if you don't mind me staying over to eat."  
  
"Eh, it gets kind of annoying to cook just for myself most of the time. I'll have to go get the tray I took to Tou-san earlier anyway." He went to the pantry and opened it. "Well, we have ten different kinds of curry and we have ramen. What would you like?"  
  
"Um...Ramen sounds good."  
  
Rowen plucked two pots from a cabinet and boiled the ramen. Five minutes later... "There you go. Let's work on homework for a while, and then we can plot even more."  
  
"I'm ready to plot something even worse looking at the homework she gave us."  
  
Rowen glanced over it. "Different perspective. Just wait until you get all of the homework from all of the teachers. This will look like heaven on earth."  
  
"True, it could be a lot worse. A full days load of homework would have really made a terrible day." Sage said pulling out the English homework assignment for the evening.  
  
Rowen decided to make him feel better and work on it slowly. Eventually he came really close to finishing and stared off into the distance, daydreaming.  
  
Sage worked on it slowly, surprised that Rowen wasn't finished quickly, but he had the feeling that Rowen went slow for him. It made him feel a little better because English went through his head like molasses comes out of a jar: extremely slowly. He munched on the ramen and looked up at Rowen. Noticing he was staring off into space, Sage reached over to shake his blue haired friend's shoulder to bring him to reality.  
  
Rowen jumped and went sideways off his chair, along with his empty ramen bowl. He landed on his side, and the ramen bowl clanged onto his head. "ITAI!!!!"  
  
Sage snickered at the scene. "See, what did I tell you, you are more likely to break your own neck before breaking someone else's, klutzoid." Sage got up from his seat, reaching out a pale hand to help Rowen off the floor.  
  
Rowen took the hand and pulled himself up. "Dameyo, baka," he muttered. He picked up the bowl and carried it to the kitchen. He sat down and got his revenge by finishing his English in about thirty seconds. "I'm going to get that tray now. Be right back." He walked back to the lab.  
"Ok..." Sage looked again at the English homework, trying to get it finished before Rowen got back from picking up the tray, but it didn't look very likely that that was going to happen.  
  
Rowen found the tray only half eaten. "Mou, Tou-san, do you think that you could eat some more?" His father called over his shoulder, "Not right now, Rowen! I'm so close!" Rowen called back as he left, "It will be in the fridge when you come up to bed." He ran back up the stairs two at a time. When he opened the door he found Sage working on the homework.  
  
Sage was concentrating so hard on the piece of homework that his mind insisted on wandering away from that he hadn't realized that Rowen had come back into the apartment with the tray.  
  
Rowen put the tray down silently and easily crept up to Sage since he hadn't put his shoes on before going downstairs. He waited until he was about a foot away from him, and then grabbed his shoulders and shouted, "BOO!" He jumped back and let go immediately after he had done it.  
  
"AH..." Sage shouted as he jumped out of the chair. He rubbed his shoulders as though someone had hurt his shoulders, then looked back at Rowen fiercely.  
  
Rowen tilted his head and looked at him in puzzlement. "What's wrong? I know I didn't grab you that hard..."  
  
Sage looked at him confused for a moment then laughed. "It's nothing, just the tingling after effect of being scared out of your pants."  
  
"No it's not. I would know. How did your shoulders get hurt?" Rowen became serious and crossed his arms, stubbornly awaiting an answer.  
  
Sage just looked at Rowen, a little confused. "It is just the tingling after effect, I swear."  
  
Rowen smiled dryly. "Riiiiight," he said, then rushed forward and grabbed Sage's left shoulder.  
  
"Ack...Rowen." Sage started trying to claw Rowen off his shoulder  
  
"See?" Rowen grinned triumphantly. "I told you." He let go.  
  
Sage sighed and chuckled a little. "All right, all right, you're right, they do hurt a little."  
  
"So, what happened?" he persisted.  
  
"They just tend to hurt after writing or too much pulling on the muscle, but they will be alright after they relax." Sage explained  
  
"Ok, I'll accept that." He grinned and sat down at the table again. "Too much kendo?"  
  
"Yeah," he chuckled, "I guess so," Sage smiled and sat back down at the table, still seeing more than a page of English homework left to do.  
  
Rowen looked at Sage's work. "Want any help with that?"  
"Erm...Yes, I think I do." Sage looked up at Rowen.  
  
Rowen grinned and grabbed the paper. "Well, it's just vocabulary. Use your dictionary."  
  
"Duh." Sage smacked himself in the face for his stupidity and laughed.  
  
Rowen laughed with him before grabbing his book again. "Well, I'll read while you're doing that. Have fun."  
  
"Ok, this should go by faster than I thought." Sage pulled out the little dictionary and started to look up the words.  
  
"You can borrow one and sneak it into class tomorrow. She'll think you're a genius."  
  
Sage laughed at the thought. "That would be funny and awesome, especially since we are going to do something really, really cruel to her."  
  
"Well, I wouldn't say cruel, exactly." He chuckled, but froze when the doorknob started rattling. "That must be my Tou-san." He relaxed, stood, and opened the door. His dad walked in and waved. "Hey. I'm going to bed. See you later." With that, he disappeared into the bedroom.  
  
Sage just kind of blinked as Rowen's Tou-san walked right past him. "Must be really tired not to notice company."  
  
"Yup. I think he stayed up all night. He's been working on this weird project for months now, and he figured most of it out last night." He went and closed the door. "Normally he would be surprised that someone is over."  
  
"Ah...So, is it hard not having him around a lot?" Sage asked, not really knowing if he should have just minded his own business,  
  
"Oh, normally I go down and watch. It's not really all that hard. I'm used to it." Rowen shrugged and put up his dictionary.  
  
"Oh...That's neat. That you go down there and watch, that is," Sage said, finally finished with the English homework in front of him  
  
"Finally finished?" Rowen checked his watch. "It's getting late. You should be getting home." He grabbed a light jacket. " I'll walk with you. I want to where the dojo is exactly."  
  
Sage looked at his watch. "Ack, you're right." He got up and grabbed his stuff. "Thanks."  
  
Rowen stuck his hands in the pockets of his jacket and led Sage down the stairs. It was already dark out.  
  
Sage looked at the night sky, where not very many stars were showing because of all the lights on. "Nice night, isn't it?"  
  
"Yeah. I plan on being an astronomer one of these days."  
  
"That is a neat career goal. Stars are kind of fascinating, but just to look at instead of studying for me," Sage said, looking ahead of him  
  
"I've loved them, ever since I was little." Rowen shrugged. "Plus, I get to look through big telescopes."  
  
"Yeah, and get to see all the stars and the planets. That is always interesting." Sage smiled at the thought of looking at the planets. "So, when are we going to put the goo in Mrs. Gibson's room?"  
  
"Tomorrow night. We can meet in front of the school at midnight."  
  
"Ok, I'll meet you there. Oh, here's my stop," Sage said, pointing to the dojo.  
  
"All right. See you later." Rowen waved and turned back the way he came. No accidents so far. Maybe nothing would happen on the way back.  
  
"See you tomorrow, and try not to get yourself killed, Rowen," Sage said, going towards the dojo.  
  
Rowen grinned and walked off. He made it back to the apartment in one piece, but when he reached the top of the first flight of stairs he tripped over his shoelace and fell down the stairs. "Itai....." His arm throbbed terribly. He poked at it, and finally figured that he had broken it. "Terrific." He headed up the stairs to wake his Tou-san.  
  
That's the end. Whew. I can't believe it took me this long. Sorry. I really didn't mean to leave it.  
  
Japanese words: Dameyo: shut up Baka: stupid, fool Gomen ne: sorry Gomen nasai: sorry Itai: Ow Tou-san: Father Mou: kind of like umm Ano: see Mou  
  
If Sage is a little OOC, please excuse it. Ceo hasn't seen this show, nor has she read any of the fan fiction. She did all of Sage's parts. Thank you for reading! Please review.  
  
Mischa Kitsune and Ceo Shinji 


	3. Dojos and Large Families

A/N: Well, I decided that since Ceo is available, I'm going to go ahead and get this one done. I introduced Ceo to a site about Ronin Warriors, so she knows more about the show now. Hope you're enjoying it so far. I posted a disclaimer in the previous chapter. If the characters are a little OOC, it's because I haven't seen the show in nearly five years, and Ceo has never seen it. I am inserting Japanese phrases because I remember how helpful fanfics were when I first started learning Japanese. I think I learned more useful phrases on the internet than I did in class. -laughs- This chapter is edited by Hiro no Tsuki. If you like Mercedes Lackey or Shrek, check out her stories. I have Gaiden now, so I know that my version of Sage and Rowen are OOC. I've decided that that's okay since this is an alternate universe, so they didn't have to go through what they did in the series. My birthday is coming up, and I might just get the entire series on dvd! Okay, that's enough babbling. On with the story.

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Chapter 3 : Dojos and Little Sisters

Rowen sighed as he crossed the street to the school. Last night his father had taken him to the hospital, and he had spent half the night in the waiting room. It turned out that he did have a broken arm, and now his left arm was adorned with a dark blue cast. He had taken a silver permanent pen and decorated it with constellations the night before. Rowen had gotten to school early this morning because he wanted to be sure that he was on time. He really didn't want to have his right arm throb from holding a bucket. He unlocked the classroom and went in.

Sage decided to be a little early to school that day, just in case a rushing Rowen decided to run into him again. He didn't want to be late and have to hold the buckets. 'Yes, that's exactly what I need; to hold buckets because a teacher can't stand students being 15-30 seconds late,' Sage thought as he entered the school.

Rowen settled himself at his desk and set out his pencils and notebooks. He was already thinking about the classes. They would be getting homework from every class, so at least he would have something to do when he got home. He grabbed _Which Star Is That?_ and picked up from where he stopped the day before.

Sage was looking forward to what he and Rowen had planned to play on the English teacher. He looked in his satchel, praying he hadn't left anything at home because he couldn't make another trip back home and still be on time for class. Thankfully, he did have all the items he needed, including the little Webster's Dictionary Rowen let him borrow. Sage made his way into the classroom to get settled in before the herd of students started flooding into the classroom. Rowen was so absorbed in his book that he never noticed Sage enter the room.

Sage made his way to his desk, not looking up until he noticed Rowen reading his book. "You must really like that book."

Rowen jumped and looked up, setting his book down and revealing his arm at the same time. "It's all about the positioning of the stars and telescope settings. I'm loving it so far."

"That's good." Sage looked down at his friend's arm, then back up at his face. "How did that happen?" Sage asked, pointing to the cast.

Rowen sighed. "I was going up the stairs back to my apartment when I tripped over my shoelace and fell down the stairs. My arm was broken in the fall."

"Ouch. That has to hurt," Sage said, neatly setting all his pencils and notebooks on the desk.

"Yeah. It does. I only came this early because I was afraid that I would drop my bag and scatter everything again if I was caught in the morning crowd." He glared at the offending limb.

"I came early just in case you were rushing to class and accidentally ran into me again," Sage said, laughing a little.

Rowen flushed slightly and mumbled, "Sorry about that." He looked up. "Well, bad news. Tonight's off. I can't make the goop with only one arm. Sorry. We can't do it until the cast is off."

Sage nodded in agreement, turning to face the front of the classroom. "Well, the teacher is spared for now." Sage chuckled, turning back to look at Rowen.

Rowen grinned, but the early bell rang and more students poured into the room. "Prepare for the first day of torturous work. Or so I've been told." He smirked.

"Yep, the first day is heaven, the second day is hell," Sage said, turning to face the front again as more and more students came into the room.

Rowen smiled and put away his book as the second bell rang and the teacher came in.

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Sage walked out of the school building, relieved that he had survived the second day, which was supposed to be one of the hardest days. He saw a tree in a corner of the school yard and decided to wait there for Rowen, just in case he was trying to get his attention that day.

Rowen walked out a few moments later and saw Sage. He approached him and smiled. "So, I see you survived your second day unscathed. Do you think you need any help today? I'm free and bored. I finished the homework during the last period."

Sage pondered for a second. Did he need any help? He had finished half of it during the duration of the day, and only had about half a page of English work to do. "No, not really. I have just about all of the work done for the day."

Rowen shrugged. "Okay then. Could I tag along to the dojo? I want to see what it looks like on the inside." The word dojo reminded him of something. "Drat it. I just realized that I can't practice archery until this cast comes off." He thumped the cast in irritation.

Sage snickered a little at the irritated action. "Sure, you can come to the dojo. My grandpa and parents may be surprised to have company over for a change, though."

Rowen laughed. "About as surprised as my dad was?" he inquired.

Sage laughed. "Just about, or maybe even more surprised."

"Wow. You must really have very few guests, then." Rowen started towards the dojo.

"Yeah, it is extremely rare that we ever have company," Sage said, following his new friend. He looked up at the clear blue sky. "But it is a very peaceful place, if only because it doesn't have mobs of people going in and out of it."

"I'll bet. I know how peaceful our home can be when all the surrounding apartments are quiet. Good for meditating, ne?"

"Hai, it is a wonderful place to meditate," Sage replied, looking towards Rowen and smiling.

"Breaking my arm seemed to get rid of all the klutziness. Nothing has gone wrong today." He thumped the cast again. "Maybe I can be slightly thankful for it."

"Ah,ah,ah. You say that now, but you never know. You could just be jinxing yourself," Sage pointed out, waving a finger at Rowen.

Rowen sighed. "It wouldn't much matter. What could happen that's worse than breaking your arm?"

"Much, much worse. Think about it. You got off with just a broken arm when you could have ended up with some major injuries that would lay you up in the hospital for a very long time," Sage pointed out as they neared the Date dojo.

"I see your point. Still, to me, breaking an arm is just as bad as dying or ending up in the hospital. At least in the hospital I could read all the time, and if I was dead, then I'd probably never be bored. With a broken arm I'm up and about and can realize what all I'm missing." He started crossing the street to the entrance.

"True, but a broken arm will heal and then all the things you are missing out on, you can enjoy again," Sage said, walking through the entrance to the dojo.

"Sage nii-chan!!" A girl ran up to Sage to give him a big welcome home hug.

Rowen hung back and watched the girl, who didn't look too much younger than Sage, hug her older brother.

"Hello, Satsuki. How are you?" Sage asked, momentarily forgetting his company.

"I'm fine. Ne, Nii-chan, who is this?" Satsuki asked, looking over at Rowen.

"Oh yes. Rowen, meet my younger sister Satsuki. Satsuki, this is my friend Rowen." Sage introduced the two.

Rowen bowed. "Hajime mashita. Douzo Yoroshiku." He rose from the bow and smiled at her.

"It's nice to meet you too." Satsuki bowed in return.

Rowen smiled slightly. "You're welcome."

"I like your family already, Sage-kun." Rowen turned to look at the dojo.

Sage laughed a little, turning to Satsuki. "Silly girl." Sage rubbed the top of Satsuki's head, messing up her finely combed hair.

Satsuki glared at her brother. "Do you know how long it took to comb my hair?"

Sage looked at his glaring sister. "I have no idea, Satsuki. How long?" Sage asked her, eyes dancing.

"35 minutes to get it all nice and straight, and you ruined it," Satsuki hissed through her teeth

"Sorry, Satsuki. I'll make it up to you, ok?" Sage said, winking at her. "Now, let's go inside so we can sit down." Sage started through the doors to the dojo. Rowen looked disappointed.

"Oh, you'll make it up to me, all right." Satsuki took a running leap towards Sage and latched onto his perfectly styled hair. She started running her hands through the blonde locks, doing her best to mess them up.

Rowen whooped. He'd been wanting to do that since the first time he'd laid eyes on the blonde, especially when his hair hadn't been at all ruffled after being run over by him.

"Ack! Satsuki! Help! Rowen! Satsuki, get off please!" Sage pleaded as his younger sister continued to mess up the blonde hair.

Rowen just stood there laughing, thoroughly enjoying the spectacle before him.

Satsuki continued to mess up the hair. "Not until you say uncle! I won't stop until you say uncle!" Satsuki laughed.

"I won't say it, Satsuki! You know I won't say it!" Sage refused to give into his sister's demands.

"Hmmm...I wonder if I should chop some of it off," Satsuki said, not really intending to chop her brother's hair off. Rowen couldn't breathe because of how hard he was laughing. Sage gaped for a second.

"You wouldn't dare," he stated, pausing in his struggle to get her off of him.

Satsuki magically produced a pair of scissors and made a couple of snipping sounds. "Oh, I wouldn't, would I?" His sister laughed evilly, getting dangerously close to the hair.

Rowen decided to intervene. He came up behind Satsuki and plucked the scissors from her hand. "If you did that, you couldn't have any more fun messing up his hair," he pointed out.

"True. I wasn't really going to do it. I just wanted him to say uncle." Satsuki smiled up at Rowen, jumping off of Sage now that he knew her cruel plan wasn't really as cruel as he thought it was, and wouldn't say uncle for the life of him.

Rowen looked at Sage. "You can't say I didn't help. Now, are we going to stay out here and continue chatting?"

Sage looked at Rowen and started trying to fix his hair into the same position it was in before it had been Satsukied.

Rowen finally gave up and walked in of his own accord. "Slowpokes!" he called back to them.

Sage and Satsuki hurried after him and were greeted by their grandfather. "Where do you two think you are going without introducing your guest to me?" the grandfather asked, looking sternly at the three people that had entered the room

"Grandfather, this is Rowen. Rowen, this is my grandfather," Sage quickly introduced Rowen to his grandfather before he got into any trouble.

Rowen bowed very deeply. "Douzo yoroshiku, Date-sama."

The grandfather returned the bow. "Douzo yoroshiku, Rowen-kun."

"I hope these two have been good hosts while you have been here," the old man said, giving Sage and Satsuki stern looks.

"Hai, Date-sama. Exemplary." Rowen was truly intimidated by this man.

"That is good. I will let you three be on your way," the grandfather said, turning away. "Oh, and by the way, Sage, the next time you stay out, give your family a call."

"Yes, sir," Sage said, then turned to lead Rowen to his room.

"Oh...Grandfather is mad at you, Nii-chan." Satsuki pointed out the obvious once their grandfather was out of sight.

Rowen looked at Sage with admiration. "You LIVE with him? He's scary."

"Yeah. He is the one that taught me kendo and discipline when I was younger," Sage informed him, continuing down the pathway.

Satsuki sighed a little. "Grandfather is really strict, which makes him really scary."

Rowen gave him a sympathetic look. "I'm sure that you learned well."

She laughed a little. "He learned well alright. He had to take up bonsai and bamboo flute, all for the sake of learning to discipline himself."

Rowen perked up. "Bamboo flute? I can understand bonsai, but bamboo flute?"

"Satsuki, couldn't you have kept that to yourself?" Sage glared at his younger sister. He sighed a little. "It was grandfather's idea- to help me calm myself," Sage explained.

Satsuki spotted her room. "Well, it has been a blast, guys, but I need to tend to a few things. I hope you enjoy your stay here Rowen." Satsuki bid the two farewell and disappeared into her room.

Rowen turned to Sage. "I like her. She's fun."

"Yeah, she is a lot of fun to be around. She certainly makes life around here more interesting," Sage said, laughing a little

Rowen smiled. "I wish I had a little sister. It would be nice."

Sage laughed a little at that comment. "I can handle her better than I can my older sister."

Rowen looked at him. "What's wrong with a big sister?"

"A lot. She likes to tease me and such," Sage said, thankful she wasn't at the dojo at the moment.

Rowen shrugged. "My mom's like that. She's older than you'd think from the way she acts."

"Oh, what does she do?" Sage said, opening the door to his room and letting Rowen enter first.

"She acts like a teenager, and as though I'm still really young." He bowed his head to Sage in thanks.

"That is odd for an adult," Sage said, walking into the room

"Well, she was very young when she had me. She's in her early thirties, and she's a journalist.

She travels all over the world." He smiled slightly. "I guess she's more like a little sister, or an annoying slightly older one."

Sage smiled, then heard someone calling his name

"Sage!" an older woman called while heading towards the room.

"Oh, that sounds like my mother; don't worry. She isn't nearly as scary as my grandfather." Sage winked at Rowen then went over to the door to open it.

Date-san looked at her son for a second, then, spotting Rowen's blue hair, said, "Sage, I didn't know you had company."

"It's all right. Rowen, this is my mother. Mother, this is my friend Rowen."

Rowen bowed once again. His back was going to get sore if he had to do this too many more times. "Douzo Yoroshiku, Date-san."

The mother bowed. "Douzo Yoroshiku, Rowen-kun."

Rowen rose from his bowed position once again and smiled at Sage's mother. "You have a very lovely family."

"Why, thank you! Such a polite boy." Sage's mom returned the smile. "Dinner is in an hour and your friend is more than welcome to join us."

"Doumo arigatou, Date-san."

"You are very welcome, Rowen-kun. Sage, don't forget about dinner in an hour."

"All right, Mom. We'll be down on time," Sage said, giving his mom a soft smile.

Rowen grinned as Sage's mom left the room. "So far I really like your family. Is there anyone else that I'll be meeting?"

"My Tou-san, but he might not be home till dinner. He works on the police force," Sage said, taking a seat on the floor.

Rowen looked at him curiously. "So you're full Japanese? With blonde hair?"

"Yeah. I know it's kind of odd, but I am full Japanese," Sage answered, chuckling a little.

"The one-eyed Dragon," Rowen said quietly. "I remember reading a story about him. Decided to imitate him?"

"Yeah, one day, hopefully," Sage said happily

Rowen stared at him for a second, and then laughed heartily. "I can see it now. Sage, the one-eyed Date dragon. Will it be your title in Kendo?"

Sage smiled. "Yeah. I'll win the upcoming tournament, and that will be the name I use when I'm famous." He struck a pose, then chucled.

Rowen cracked up, and when he recovered he wiped some tears from his eyes. "That was priceless."

Satsuki listened to the laughing boys on the other side of the door. She knocked on the door, then opened it a little to see both of the boys laughing like maniacs. "Um...Are you two ok?"

Sage laughed a little more before answering. "Satsuki, you missed the fun," Sage said, continuing to laugh.

"Your brother struck a POSE!" He shot a grin at her.

Satsuki started laughing at the image of her brother striking a pose.

Rowen finally got himself under control. "That's great. I will remember that forever."

Sage and Satsuki calmed their laughing also.

"I missed it, and I'll still remember," Satsuki said, leaning against the doorframe.

"Do it again," Rowen said. "Please? She has GOT to see this one."

Sage stood up, trying to keep himself from laughing before he struck the pose.  
Satsuki collapsed to the floor with laughter. Sage just started laughing again at the pose.  
Rowen made sure he wasn't looking so that he wouldn't laugh.

"Nii-chan, never pick up modeling, please," Satsuki said, calming her giggles.

Rowen smirked. "Oh, I don't know. He might be a hit with blonde hair."

"Yeah, if he was so funny to look at when he stuck a pose," Satsuki said, winking at her brother.

"Am I really that funny looking?" Sage asked, looking at what he could see of himself.

Rowen shrugged. "No. She's your little sister. She's messing with you."

Satsuki looked at Sage, and back at Rowen. "I'm just playing, Sage."

"Did you need something, Satsuki?" Sage asked, looking at his sister

"Well, what I came in here for you already showed me, and I have to help Mom with dinner," Satsuki said, getting off the floor and bowing to them before closing the door and heading towards the kitchen.

Rowen raised an eyebrow. "That was interesting."

"Yeah, that was," Sage replied, sitting back down on the floor.

Rowen sat in silence for a moment. "So....Is there anything to do that will entertain us until dinner?" he asked, becoming bored.

Sage leaned back, thinking. 'What is there to do other than Kendo?' "We do have a TV in the front room. It has a game console."

Rowen smiled, but shook his head. "Nah. Could we try kendo? I've wanted to try it out for a while now. I need something to do other than archery," he replied.

Sage smiled. "Sure, but are you willing to deal with my grandfather?"

"What do you mean by 'deal with?'" Rowen shot back.

"Deal with as in willing put up with him teaching you some Kendo," Sage clarified.

"Isn't that the point?" Rowen asked. "True,."

Sage laughed a little. "I'll go ask him if it is ok."

Rowen smiled and stood. "I'll go with you." He opened the door for Sage and followed him out.

"Thank you," Sage said, walking towards the Kendo room where he knew he would most likely find his grandfather. Sage opened the door, seeing his grandfather in the middle of the floor looking like he was praying.

Rowen leaned around him and saw what his grandfather was doing. "Maybe now wouldn't be the best time to interrupt," he said quietly enough that only Sage could hear.

"Yeah, it isn't. Maybe after dinner he can," Sage whispered back. Sage closed the door.

Rowen nodded. "So, how about that video game?"

Sage led him to the front room. "Well, we don't have the best selection of games."

"We can work with what you have." Rowen sat down in front of the TV and grabbed a controller.

"Well, since you are the guest, you can choose," Sage said, pointing at the little shelf of games.

Rowen grinned and snagged a game called Super Smash Brothers off of the shelf. "I love this one. It's the best." He popped it in and chose vs. mode, then picked Link with a dark blue outfit.

Sage smiled. "Same here." He chose Zelda and kept her regular outfit.

Rowen gave him an annoyed look. "How come everyone chooses her when they play me?" he asked as the fight began. He charged and attacked so fiercely that Zelda couldn't do anything. She was ko'ed in no time.

Sage became even more determined at the KO and turned into Sheik. He got Link with a wave of punches. "She is my favorite character to play on here. Just ask my sister."

Rowen managed to get away and used the attack where Link spins really quickly (A/N: Forgive my lack of intelligent terminology.). He followed up with constant slashing, causing nearly 300 damage.

Sage saw one of the big hammers fall and decided to disappear, which caused him to hit Link because Link was so close to grabbing the evil hammer.

Rowen moved Link up three levels above Sheik so that he couldn't get him with the hammer. Once the hammer was gone Link dropped down two levels and used that little chain thingy (A/N: I have no idea what it's called; I haven't played Ocarina of Time in years.) to grab hold of Sheik and toss him off the side of the bottom platform.

Sage gave Rowen a frustrated look. He was determined to at least tie this game when his mother called from the kitchen. "Sage, Rowen-kun, dinner's ready."

Rowen grinned. "I win," he declared, then stood up and went into the kitchen. "Doumo arigatou, Date-san. It smells delicious."

Sage grumbled a little before getting off the floor and heading into the kitchen. "It smells excellent, Mom."

Rowen went to the table and stood there, wondering where he was supposed to sit.

"Thank you, Rowen-kun, Sage." Sage offered Rowen a seat next to him. Satsuki came in, excitedly taking her seat next to her mom, and Sage's grandfather went to the head of the table as Sage's father came running in, just in time to get the other end of the table, still in his uniform.

Rowen took the seat offered to him. He looked over at Sage's dad. He didn't have blonde hair either. Where did it come from?

"Father, this is Rowen. Rowen, this is my father." Sage introduced them.

Rowen bowed as best he could while sitting. "It's nice to meet you, Date-san."

"Nice to meet you also, Rowen-kun. I heard Sage spent some time at your house the other day. Hopefully it wasn't too much trouble." Sage's father tried to start a conversation as Sage's mother went around giving everyone food and something to drink.

Rowen laughed softly. "Not at all. It was good to have someone over." He nodded his thanks to Sage's mother when she served him.

"That is good." Sage's father started to eat his food because after dinner he had to get back to work. He was working really late that night. "It's nice to have someone here for a change."

Rowen smiled. "It's good to be somewhere besides home, Date-san." He started in on his plate with an appetite.

Sage looked over at his grandfather. "Grandfather, Rowen is interested in some Kendo lessons. Could you teach him?" Sage asked

"That is up to Rowen. If he really wants to do it I won't turn him down," the grandfather said, eating his food.

Rowen looked up eagerly upon hearing this. He had perfected his archery skills already. "Thank you, Date-sama. I'll work hard. Could we work out something to pay you back? I don't get an allowance, and I don't think my Tou-san would be willing to spend the money that he could use for buying chemicals. Maybe I could teach Sage how to use a bow?" he offered.

The grandfather looked up at that offer. "You have yourself a deal, Rowen-kun. You start teaching him tomorrow after school. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" he said. "When should I start my kendo lessons?"

The grandfather looked at Rowen's arm, which was still in the cast. "How about after that comes off?"

Rowen looked down at his arm, suddenly remembering that it was there. He blushed lightly. "Sure. I had...forgotten about it." He ducked his head slightly.

There was some brief chuckling at the table, then Sage's father stood. "Well, I must be off. I have to do a double shift today. I'll see you all in the morning."

Rowen nodded. "Sayounara, Date-san."

"Bye. Rowen-kun, I hope you enjoy your stay here. It was very nice to meet you," Sage's Tou-san said, leaving the room.

Rowen looked to Sage. "He's nice."

Sage looked at Rowen and nodded. Then Satsuki chimed in. "Hey, you two. You played Super Smash Bros. without me." She pouted.

Rowen looked over at her. "What character do you normally use?"

Satsuki grinned. "I don't use a set character."

Sage rolled his eyes. "That's what makes her a difficult opponent."

Rowen sighed. "If I used Link, what character would you use?" he asked.

Rowen laughed. "I guess you'll be harder to beat than your brother, then. I'll play you next."

Satsuki pondered on that for a few, "I feel like Marth today."

Rowen smiled. "Sword to sword. This should be interesting."

Satsuki smiled, "either him or Ray on of the two it just all depends."

Rowen shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me." He finished off his dinner.

Satsuki jumped up from her seat and ran over to plug another controller into the console. "Come on, you two! I'm not going to wait all day." Sage got up to grab his own controller, and they waited for Rowen to join them.

Rowen stood up and took up his controller. "How is this going to work? Are we all just going to attack each other?"

Satsuki and Sage both nodded. "This is going to be fun," Satsuki declared as she and Sage both choose their characters. Sage got to Ray before Satsuki did, leaving her with Marth. "That is mean, Niichan." Satsuki made a face at her brother.

"No one said I have to be nice." Sage smiled sweeely at his younger sister.

Rowen smiled at their bickering and chose Link. He was best with Link, so he always chose him.

Satsuki choose the field they were going to fight in. "I love the Pokemon Stadium field." The match was about to begin and Satsuki caught Link off guard, slashing at him and her brother at the same time, and KOing Sage. She then turned her main attention to Link before Ray got back in the field, not knowing Ray was charging up his attack. Sage hit his sister's character, blasting Marth out of the field. "Onii-chan, that wasn't fair!" Satsuki said, coming back from KO.

"There's nothing against it, Satsuki. The rules are just to fight your opponent and get them out as many times as possible," Sage said, fighting Link.

Rowen laughed at the siblings' antics. He used Link to hit Ray so many times that he went flying from the field into the distance. "Bye bye, Ray."

They continued to play the video game until it was pitch black outside. Sage had lost countless times to his sister and Rowen. Sage's mother had been watching the three play the game for quite a while before their grandfather came in. "I hate to interrupt the excitement, but I am sure Rowen has to go home sometime soon. It's pitch black outside."

Rowen looked up. "Oh! I totally forgot! I need to bring dinner to my dad! He probably hasn't eaten yet today," he said, standing up and forgetting the game. "Thank you for having me over, Date-san, Date-sama, Sage-kun, Satsuki-chan," he said, bowing to them all after grabbing his bag. "I'll be sure to come by with Sage after school for my lesson tomorrow afternoon, Date-sama. Goodbye," Rowen finished, leaving their home and running off towards his house.

"Bye, Rowen! See you tomorrow," Sage called after him as he left the room, then stretched and went to his bedroom to finish the homework he had left undone.

A/N: I think I'll stop there. Longest chapter I've ever written. Thank you, Ceo Shinji. I hope you enjoy this one! I'll be waiting for your reviews on my longest chapter ever! Woot! (I love that word.) Tata!


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